Ambulance



ct. l. 31.940- M. KREIDLER AMBULANGE Filed Sept. 23, 1958 Patented Oct.1, 1940 uuNrrlaD i STATES PATENT OFFICE AMBULANCE Maynard Kreidler,McAllen, Tex.` Application September 23, 1938, Serial vl\lo. 231,317

s claims. (ci. 29e-19) l l This invention relates to ambulances.

The public in morerecent years has been instructed in regard to traiiicaccidents not to pick up the injured `persons and put them in theirautomobiles to take them to a hospital, because frequently more harmresults through awkward handling of the injured, especially in cases offractures and where internal injuries have been sustained. rIhe thoughtis that expert handling by ambulance attendants using equipment suitedfor the purpose is best in the long run, and there is no appreciablesaving in time when the privately owned automobile conveys the injuredto the hospital, because an ambulance equipped with l5 a siren for usein a run through a densely populated sectionhas the right-of-way and cancarry the injured to the hospital more speedily and Vwith much lessdanger involved. Obviously this practice has greatly increased thenumber of ambulance calls. In the majority of traino accidents, therearemore than two persons injured, and anambulance equipped with two cots,which has been the customary equipment, isforced to make two trips orelse do a make-shift job of it by assigning the more seriously injuredpersons to the cots and carrying the rest otherwise. Then, too, in somesections of the country Where hospitals are anywhere from'fifty to onehundred and fifty miles apart, it is obvious that there is 1,30 aserious handicapin attempting to operate with an ordinary two-passengerambulance, and, in those regions, many lives `could be saved and muchsuffering avoided with four-passenger ambulances. l It is therefore theprincipal object of 3,5 my invention to provide an ambulance equippedwith four cots, two of which will be in the nature of..upper berthsexcept `that they are designed to be swung up to lan out-oi-the-wayposition when not in horizontal position for use and are 40 quicklydetachable and attachable so that they can be handled like stretchers tocarry the injured to and from the ambulance. With this equipment oneambulancecan in an emergency carry four patients lyingdown, thus makingit `unnecessary to send so many ambulances to the scene of an accidentand eliminating the additional traflic hazard involved where so manyambulances `are called. A salient feature of the upper berth cots of myinvention is the fact that these cots when disposed in horizontaloperative position derive their sole support from the adjacent sidewalls of the ambulance and there are no upright supports or dependinghangers on the ceiling constituting .55 obstructionsinsthe ambulance;all of the space Vwalls Scand Illa ofthe ambulance.

from the'iloor to the ceiling' and vfrom one side wall to the otherinthe ambulance is `kept free of obstructions so that the regular cotsthat rest on thefloor and the upper berths that are supported on theside walls can beremoved and '15 replaced withfacility.

A special feature of the present invention is the provision of quicklyreleasable lockingmeans for securing the upper berth cot in either ahorizone tal operative position or a raised inoperative posii120 tion,said means permitting quick and easy r'emoval of the cot from theambulance from either position, but serving to hold the cot securelylocked in either position.A l i Another feature of the locking means ofspecial 15 advantage is thefact that it `may beoperated interchangeablyby'means of a hand lever or foot treadle, so that there is nodanger ofany time being lostby reason of confusion on the part of the operator.The locking means is further simplied by interconnecting forsimultaneousoperation the latch which releasably secures the cot in raised position-and the latchwhich releasably secures the cotinhhorizontal position,thus permitting both latches to'be operated `by hand ror 25 foottreadle, Whichever yis most convenient for the operator.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig.1 is a cross-section through the body of 30 an ambulance equipped withfour cots in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional detail on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view corre- 35` spending to a portionof Fig. 1, showing a` moved position of the upper berth cot fasteningmeans.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

The reference numeral 3 designates the floor 40 and 4 the ceiling of theambulance or other vehicle in which the four cots numbered 5, 6, 1, and8 are carried and suitably secured in place. 9 and i0 designate the rearwheel housings which usually project into the ambulance from the innerside 45 The cots shown at 5 and are of the conventional design equippedwith wheels Il to permit their being rolled into and'out of position onthe floor 3 between the `rear wheel housings 9 and l0, the wheelsbeingpreferably on casters, as indicated at I2, so as to permit sidewisemovement at will. I3 and i4 designate cot fasteners adjacent thehousings 9 and l0 which may be of any suitable or preferred type, theones shown being like that disclosed in Van Deest Patent No. 1,858,530consisting of front and rear hooks in opposed relation with the rearhook of each pair adapted to be moved toward and away from the fronthook by means of a handle I5 and rod I6. The hooks referred to areadapted to engage the corner posts I1 on the front and rear ends of thecot. In the event the rear wheel housings do not leave sufficient floorspace between them for two cots with cot fasteners of the Van Deesttype, I may mount cot fasteners on the side walls 9a and Illa over therear wheel housings, using cot fasteners of the type disclosed in thecopending application of Donald H. Cox, Serial No. 153,111, inasmuch assuch cot fasteners permit the cots to stand. closer to the sides of therear wheel housings.

The upper berth cots 6 and 1 'provided in accordance with myinvention-may be supported directly on the side walls 9a and Illa, but Ihave shown front and rear uprights I8 and vI9 as special supportsassociated -witheach Vof the cots. Inasmuch `as there -are substantiallyvidentical fastening andsupporting means provided in connection withboth cots, a description of the fastening Aand supportingmeans for cot 6will serve for both. Each of the cots has a pair` of vertically spacedhorizontal longitudinalside members 26 and 2| onthat side of the cottoward the adjacent side wall of the'ambulance. vFront and rear hooks 22and 23 are .carried on the upright .supports I8 and I9 for engagementunder the front and rear ends of lthe upper longitudinal member 20 ofthe cot to provide pivotal support therefor. A single downwardlyfacinghook 24 is mounted for'vertical sliding movement on the rearsupport I9 by means of the pins 25 Working in the slot 26 in theattaching shank portion 21 ofthe hookfand this hook whenengaged over therear end of the lower longitudinal member `2I on the cot serves to lockthe cot releasably in horizontal operative position. lAcoiled tension'spring 28 on the support I9 tends normally to urge the hook 24downwardly, but the'hook is adapted to be raisedby means of a rocker-arm29 pivoted on the support I9, at :30, and pivotally connected at.3I tothe'attachingfshank portion 21 of the hook and arranged to be operatedby means of a pull rod 32 pivotally connected at 33 to a foot treadle 34pivotally mountednearthe floor of the ambulance, as at 35. If desired,the hook may also be raised by means of a hand lever 36 pivoted at 31onJth'e support I9 andpivotally connected at.38 to the yupper end of theattaching shank portion 21 of thehook 24. The hand lever 36 is in close`proXimityto the cot and therefore easily visible to the attendant aboutto unfasten vthe cot. However, in most cases, it is believed that theoperator will prefer to release the cot by depression of the treadle 34,because in that way `both handsare left free to handle the cot. Aprojection -39 on theattaching shank portion 21 'ofthe hook 24cooperates with the hook 23 when the hook 24 is in 4locking relation tothe kcot ito lock the .upper longitudinal member 20 of the cotrsecurelyin engagement with Vthe hook.\23. Thisprojection also serves to makemore certain the .proper Aengagement of the cot on '-.the hook 23before.the projection 39 will 'preventfhomeward move- .mentiof the hook 24.

Another hook 40 is pivotally mounted on the .ceiling 24,. as at4I,iin.such spaced vrelation :to

the hooks 22 and 23 to permit interlocking engagement with the outerlongitudinal member 20a on the cot when the cot is unlocked from thehook 24 and swung upwardly about its longitudinal member 2D as a centerto an inoperative position like that occupied by the cot 1. A coiledtension spring 42 on the ceiling 4 tends normally to swing the hook 40toward locking engagement with the cot, but the hook may be movedpositively in the opposite direction by means of a link 43 pivotallyconnected at 44 to a bellcrank arm 45 on the hand lever 36. The link 43can be pulled either by depression of the treadle 34 or by raising thehand lever 36.

vIn operation, it should be clear that both of the upper berth cots 6and 1 when disposed in horizontal operative position derive their solesupport from the sides of the ambulance on the hooks 22 and 23 on whichthey are securely locked by the hooks 24. That leaves the inside of theambulance clear of all obstructions and facilitates getting cots out orputting them in the ambulance. Any'upright supports reaching from thefloor, or hangers depending from the ceiling, would be a nuisance. 6 andV'I can be removed and replaced without difficulty, and there is not aptto be any confusionand consequent loss of timein the handling of thesecots, because of the fact that they can belocked and unlocked either byhand, using the hand lever 36, or by foot depression. of treadle 34. Itis also of considerable advantage to have the cots swing upwardly toout-of-theway positions as herein disclosed, because they then do notinterfere with the easy handling f of the regular floor cots 5 and 8.That is to say, while the present ambulancezis designed forfour-passenger use, it can be used as a twopassenger ambulance the sameas any ordinary unimproved ambulance, and the upper berth 'cots 6 and 1are then in the nature of stand-by equipment to be used in anyemergency. There is, of course,fan appreciable saving in vexpense inoperating with an ambulance of such design, which,whenevertheemergencyrcalls for it, can bemadeto do the work oftwoambulances. VIt should also be clear that the cots will beinterchangeable, cot 11being adopted to be mounted where vcotl is shown,and viceversa. =The cots 6 and 1 may be equipped'with supporting legs orVcasters like those indicated at IIa, which are preferred because theyfacilitate handling the cots,especially loading the same into theambulance or removing the same. T-wo persons can easily handle one ofthese cots.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn with a View to covering all legitimate modifications andadaptations. v

I claim:

1. An ambulance comprising a body having a oor, side walls, and a top,said body adapted to support removable cots on said floor longitudinallythereof, fixed hooks for supporting one or more other cots above therstcots,.said hooks projecting laterally and upwardly from the side wallsin horizontally spaced relationnear the top, one or more removable cotshaving'upper side rails for pivotally and detachably engaging said hooksfor support and having lower vside rails in vertical alignment with saidupper side rails for abutment with the side walls whereby to support thecots against downward displacement `solely by the side rails thereof onsaid sidewalls Both of the cots .ISO

in horizontal positions: above the first cots, and manually operablemeans for releasably retaining said upper side rails on said hooks.

2. An ambulance as set forth in claim 1, including other hooks movablymounted on the top and projecting downwardly and laterally toward theside walls for detachable engagement with outer side railsprovided onthe adjacent cots when said cots are swung upwardly relative to theirsupporting hooks on the side walls to inoperative out-of-the-waypositions, and manually operable means` for operating said movable tophooks.

3. An ambulance as set forth in claim 1, including other hooks mountedfor vertical movement on the side walls projecting laterally` anddownwardly from the side walls below the xed i hooks thereon andarranged to have detachable engagement with the lower side rails of theadjacentcots when the same are in substantially right angular operativerelationship to the side walls, whereby to prevent` upward displacementof the upper side rails fromY the iixed hooks, and means for operatingsaid movable hooks.

4. An ambulance as sei'l forth in claim 1, in-

cluding other hooks movably mounted on the top and pr'ijectingdownwardly and laterally toward the side walls for detachable engagementwith outer side rails provided on the adjacent cots when said cots areswung upwardly relative to their supporting hooks on the side walls toinoperative out-of-the-way positions, other hooks mounted for verticalmovement on the side walls projecting laterally and downwardly from theside walls below the fixed hooks thereon and arranged to have detachableengagement with the lower side rails of the adjacent cots when the sameare in substantially right angular operative relationship to the sidewalls, whereby to prevent upward displacement of the upper side railsfrom the fixed hooks, means interconnecting the correlated movable sideand top hooks so that when the movable side hooks are retracted thecorre lated top hooks are also retracted to permit movement of theadjacent cots upwardly to outoitheway positions, spring means for movingthe lmovable hooks in one direction, and manually operable means formoving the same` in the opposite direction.

5. An ambulance comprising a body having a floor, side walls, and a top,said body adapted to support removable cots on said floor longitudinallythereof, fixed hooks for supporting one or more other cots above thefirst cots, said hooks projecting laterally and upwardly from the sidewalls in horizontally spacedrelation near the top, one or more removablecots having upper v hooks projecting laterally and downwardly therefromfor detachable engagement with the lower side rails to prevent upwarddisplacement of the upper side rails from the fixed hooks, spring meanstending normally to move the slidable members downwardly, and manuallyoperable means for moving said members upwardly, the cots beingremovable from the xed hooks and movable` hooks when said slidablemembers are raised to retracted position.

6. An ambulance comprising a body having a floor, side walls, and a top,said body adapted to support removable cots on said floor longitudinallythereof, xed hooks for supporting one or moreother cots above the rstcots, said hooks projecting laterally and upwardly from the side wallsin horizontally spaced relation near the top, one or more` removablecots having upper Side rails for pivotally and detachably engaging saidhooks for support and having lower side rails in vertical alignment withsaid upper side rails for abutmentwith the side walls whereby to supportthe cots against downward displacement solely by the side rails thereofon said side walls in horizontal poistions above the rst cots, membersslidable vertically on the side walls relative to the fixed hooks havinglateral projections over the fixed hooks for releasably retaining saidupper side rails on said hooks and having other hooks projectinglaterally and downwardly therefrom for detachable engagement with thelower side rails to prevent upward displacement of the upper side railsfrom the fixed hooks, spring means tending normally to move the slidablemembers downwardly, manually operable means for moving said membersupwardly, the cots being removable from the iiXed hooks and movablehooks when said slidable members are raised to retracted position, saidcots being also swingable upwardly relative to the xed hooks when saidslidable members are raised, and means on the top for detachablyengaging the cots to releasably secure the same in folded out-of-the-waypositions.

MAYNARD KREIDLER.

